History Main / FreeTheFrogs

** On another occasion, she SEEMS to be complaining about the frog she's having to dissect-until her friend tells her to shut up about the math test tomorrow and help her with the stinking frog.

* In ''ComicStrip/{{Zits}}'', Hector's StrawVegetarian girlfriend [[http://hrsbstaff.ednet.ns.ca/smithsi/LA7/02%20-%20STEP%20UP/Student%20Book/038-039.pdf Autumn convinced Hector and Jeremy]] to take '''''fifty thousand''''' live crickets bound for the science lab and free them ''in the hallway'' with a variation of the title being their warcry. RealityEnsues when the Hazmat unit shows up.

* The pilot to ''WesternAnimation/CarmenGotExpelled'' involves Carmen freeing the school mascot, and pet of the principal, Hamlet the warthog. As it turns out, [[RealityEnsues Hamlet has no survival skills]] and is terrified the moment he wakes up alone. He's even petrified of a squirrel.

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheLoudHouse'' episode aptly named "[[Recap/TheLoudHouseS2E8NoSuchLuckFrogWild Frog Wild]]", the plot is kicked off when Lincoln's class is getting ready to dissect frogs. Lincoln is at first eager to do so, but he's swayed against it by his little sister [[FriendToAllLivingThings Lana]], who's {{justified}} in her position because she has a pet frog named Hops, and she uses a video of her own experiences with frogs to do so. Apparently, this trope has happened before InUniverse, because Principal Higgins [[NoodleIncident immediately guesses this happened when word gets to him about the frogs going "missing"]]. In a rare RealityEnsues moment for this plot, the frogs in question don't know how to live in the wild due to being raised in captivity, and it eventually ends with the school creating a frog habitat in the classroom after Lana uses her video to sway the principal and teacher against dissecting them (and Lincoln still got detention for his role in breaking the frogs out in the first place).

* The short lived ''Series/SabrinaTheTeenageWitch'' clone, ''Series/TeenAngel'' had a very bizarre take on this. The characters give their frog human intelligence and the ability to talk and he becomes a member of their clique.
* In the actual ''Series/SabrinaTheTeenageWitch'', there is somewhat of a variation. Sabrina and class have to dissect frogs, and it seems to follow real life in that the frogs seemed to come pre-killed. Sabrina and her partner express some disgust over it, though they do it with no big drama. Sabrina then accidentally uses her magic to reanimate the frog, and it jumps off the lab table.

[[WMG:[[center:[[AC:This trope is [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1608055355081200000&page=1 under discussion]] in the [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1597830869030327400&page=1#1 Trope Repair Shop]].]]]]]]

A variation of the trope is the student trying to save the class pet are still possible, in which the animal was never in danger of dissection and the objecting student feels it's wrong to keep it in captivity at all.

For a number of reasons reasons, the dissection variation is mostly a DiscreditedTrope.

In almost any HighSchool show, there will probably be an episode where everyone must dissect frogs in science class.

A character (usually the main character) will question whether it is morally acceptable to kill the frogs [[ForScience for science]]. The teacher will usually inform the objecting character that not doing the dissection will result in a failing grade. There are two standard directions the show can go at this point:
# If the show follows the ScienceIsBad trope, the character will conclude that it ''is'' wrong to kill the frogs, and they will find or create an opportunity to free them, accepting the failing grade or, in the more extreme examples, actually converting the teacher and the rest of the class to their stand.
# If the show is using HonorBeforeReason, the main character will refuse to kill their own frog and accept the failing grade, but will not attempt to free any frog but their own, concluding that it is wrong to impose one's own values on others.

Of course, in real high schools, most if not all animals for dissection now come pre-killed.[[note]]Though one may need live frogs for studying such as nerves, but they come terminally anesthetized and/or pithed[[/note]] The idea that the teacher would kill the frogs at the school comes from the days when the school would purchase the animals alive, and use them for two purposes: alive to observe their behavior; then, after they'd been killed, for dissection. Most of the fear nowadays comes from the fact that the preserved corpses smell, well, like preserved corpses. It must also be noted that in RealLife schools today, teachers are required to provide an alternative for students who won't or can't dissect frogs for any reason, be it religious, moral, or simple {{squick}}.

Frogs, themselves, are also becoming a rare choice of dissection specimen, as many amphibian species are in decline worldwide. Pre-killed rats or fetal pigs are increasingly common as replacements, as are invertebrates such as earthworms.

For these reasons, this is on the way to becoming a DiscreditedTrope. Variants about saving the ''class pet'' are still possible, in which the animal was never in danger of dissection and the objecting student feels it's wrong to keep it in captivity at all.

Those who perpetrate this trope might go on to join an AnimalWrongsGroup and if they don't, they're probably still an AnimalLover. See also EscapedAnimalRampage.

In one ''Toys/MonsterHigh'' short, a number of characters are put in detention for an unspecified crime; Lagoona assumes it's because she decided to pull this trope.

* In the Hallmark movie ''Smooch'', Kiernan Shipka's character Zoe sneaks her frog out of class to free it. The frog then gets away and Shipka then meets a man who she mistakes to be the frog [[Literature/TheFrogPrince now transformed into a prince.]]

Those who perpetrate this trope might go on to join an AnimalWrongsGroup and if they don't, they're probably still an AnimalLover.

->''"Frogs are cooler on the outside than they are on the inside! So please, don't dissect them!"''

->''"You see? Frogs are cooler on the outside than they are on the inside! So please, don't dissect them!"''

In almost any HighSchool show, there will be probably be an episode where everyone must dissect frogs in science class.

Those who perpetrate this trope might go on to join an AnimalWrongsGroup.

[[folder:Anime & Manga]]

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]

[[folder:Films -- Animated]]
* In ''WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles'' Dash mentions he dissected a frog in passing. Which is strange considering he's in elementary, but he might've been lying since he was trying to avoid telling his dad that he used his SuperSpeed in class.

* Done in the TV adaptation of ''ComicBook/{{Zbeng}}!'', where a guy attempts it to improve the score with his angry SoapBoxSadie girlfriend.

[[folder:Newspaper Comics]]
* In ''ComicStrip/{{Zits}}'', Hector's StrawVegetarian girlfriend [[http://hrsbstaff.ednet.ns.ca/smithsi/LA7/02%20-%20STEP%20UP/Student%20Book/038-039.pdf Autumn convinced Hector and Jeremy]] to take '''''fifty thousand''''' live crickets bound for the science lab and free them ''in the hallway'' with a variation of the title being their warcry. RealityEnsues when the Hazmat unit shows up.
* Happened in the comic strip ''ComicStrip/FoxTrot''. When Paige Fox hears that she will be dissecting a frog in biology, she is grossed out by the idea and tries to get out of it. When she finally does dissect the frog, she thinks it's cool and describes it in detail to her family at dinner.
** On another occasion, she SEEMS to be complaining about the frog she's having to dissect-until her friend tells her to shut up about the math test tomorrow and help her with the stinking frog.
** And in yet another example, Paige is squicked out by the idea of having to dissect an earthworm. When urging her to think of the various educational benefits she'll gain from the experience fails, her teacher finally gets her to go along with it by pointing out how jealous her little brother will be when he finds out.
* In one ''ComicStrip/{{Drabble}}'' strip, Norman tries to impress longtime love Wendy by telling her how he set his frog free and let it jump out the window. She then reminds him that his biology class is on the eleventh floor.

[[folder:Webcomics]]

[[folder:Web Originals]]
* ''Roleplay/SurvivalOfTheFittest'' v4 has a flashback in its pre-game, that involves Remy Kim and Sarah Tan dissecting a frog. However, subverted in that neither of the characters show any moral problems with it, and any problems they do have with it tends to be more of a NauseaFuel related issue. In a different v4 pre-game thread we see Fiona Sparki and Maria Santiago dissecting a baby pig. They do show disgust, but Fiona more so, who is almost in tears at the idea of dissecting a pig so small.
* A KillFrog cartoon entitled ''Skip, Hop, Flop'' had a little boy running off with the body of a pre-killed frog, refusing to dissect it as his MadScientist teacher had instructed him to.
[[/folder]]

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'' the students were dissecting frogs (on the last day of school, for some reason). Though none of the students actively protested as much as staring at the frogs, Timmy uses his invisibility wish to beat up Francis, who'd been more than happy to cut open the frog. It almost becomes horrific when you realize the frog was still alive.

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' episode where Lisa first becomes a vegetarian, she refuses to dissect an earthworm.

* A variant occurs in the ''WesternAnimation/StarVsTheForcesOfEvil'' episode "Girls' Day Out". The plot is kicked off by Star getting sent to detention when she liberates the class hamster Marisol, after seeing she's just as bored with Miss Skullnick's lecture as Star is.

* In one issue of ''Franchise/ArchieComics'', Betty and Veronica refuse to dissect a frog--not out of concern for the frogs, but because they consider it "gross". They walk out of class at the cost of their grade, and start a protest. When tensions build between the teachers and students, Dilton interferes and reveals that [[StatingTheSimpleSolution you can dissect a frog on a computer now or use a rubber kit]], thus making Betty and Veronica's protests pointless. The girls [[CouldHaveAvoidedThisPlot sheepishly apologize to their professor]], who forgives them.

[[folder:Videogames]]

* Used in a 1995 Disney Channel adaption of ''Film/FreakyFriday''. The mother (in her daughter's body) makes a sixties-style revolution speech against frog dissection.

* In the actual ''Series/SabrinaTheTeenageWitch'', there is somewhat of a variation. Sabrina and class have to dissect frogs, and it seems to follow real life in that the frogs seemed to come pre-killed. Sabrina and her partner express some disgust over it, though they do it with no big drama. The subversion happens when Sabrina accidentally uses her magic to reanimate the frog, and it jumps off the lab table.

* In ''Series/AmericanHorrorStoryCoven'', swamp witch Misty Day [[spoiler: winds up in an IronicHell where she must dissect a frog for all eternity]]